At this week's Round Table, Eliza, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, Olivia, and new outreach director Tarika spoke with Jal Mehta from Harvard Graduate School of Education, where his work focuses on the modest topic of what it would take to improve American education. We talked about what deeper learning is--and isn’t, why we shouldn’t blame teachers for failing to foster it, why we need to think much more radically about what and how we teach--in and beyond the pandemic, what authentic assessment that could drive deeper learning could look like, and why extracurriculars like Next Generation Politics are powerful examples of deeper learning.

In this year when PowerPoints have too often substituted for meaningful learning experiences, and zoning out has become more prevalent than ever thanks to Zoom, this episode is super timely and important. Thank you for joining us!

At this week's Round Table, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, and Olivia spoke with Lily Howard Scott, an outstanding educator, curriculum developer, and social and emotional learning coach who has been doing research on learning gains during the pandemic. Recognizing that this year has been full of challenges for students, parents, and teachers, Lily focuses on the creative opportunities that have arisen now that teachers literally have a portal (known as Zoom) into students’ worlds and are forced to think about the whole child in a dramatically enhanced way. We discussed how complex it is to create change in teaching and learning at scale--and how powerful it is to have some models for doing so, but how this year has the potential to move us forward--OR backward--by leaps and bonds. We want to know: what learning will YOU hold onto beyond the pandemic? Please leave us a voice memo or pop us an email sharing your experiences. Also, let us know what you think about our new Monday morning posting schedule. Thank you for joining us!

At this week's Round Table, Inica, Madeline, and Olivia spoke with Joshua Zeitz, a historian, contributing editor at Politico Magazine, and New York Times best-selling authority of books including Building the Great Society: Inside Lyndon Johnson's White House and Lincoln Boys. Josh helped us make sense of the current presidential administration, which is going big and going quick in its first 100 days. While the imperial presidency has loomed large for the last several decades, the presidency hasn’t always been what it is, and the last four years have suggested strong parameters in just how far a President can go. We had a fantastic conversation about the abilities and limitations of presidents; the impact of polarization--historically and currently--on civic participation; the influences of FDR, LBJ, and Obama on the Biden administration; and how to strike the right balance of looking back and looking ahead. The Biden administration is betting on people wanting more, not less, government right now, which goes against the winds of recent years.  We’ll see how it goes. 

Please note: we're experimenting with a new weekly pod publication date, shifting from Thursday to Sunday morning. Let us know what you think.

Thank you for joining us!